0 


No,  18. 


THE  WILL  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Union  League  of  Philadelphia,  held  at  the  League 
House,  on  the  11th  day  of  January,  1864,  on  motion  of  Mr.  MORTON  McMICHAEL, 
seconded  by  Mr.  WM.  D.  LEWIS,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  : 

“  Whereas,  The  skill,  courage,  fidelity  and  integrity  with  which,  in  a  period  of 
unparalleled  trial,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  has  conducted  the  administration  of  the 
National  Government,  have  won  for  him  the  highest  esteem  and  the  most  affectionate 
regard  of  his  grateful  countrymen  : 

“  And  Whereas,  The  confidence  which  all  loyal  men  repose  in  his  honesty,  his 
wisdom  and  his  patriotism,  should  be  proclaimed  on  every  suitable  occasion,  in  order 
that  his  hands  may  be  strengthened  for  the  important  work  he  has  yet  to  perform  : 

“  And  Whereas,  The  Union  League  of  Philadelphia,  composed,  as  it  is,  of  those 
who,  having  formerly  belonged  to  various  parties,  in  this  juncture  recognize  no  party 
but  their  country  ;  and  representing,  as  it  does,  all  the  industrial,  mechanical,  manu¬ 
facturing,  commercial,  financial  and  professional  interests  of  the  city,  is  especially 
qualified  to  give,  in  this  behalf,  an  unbiassed  and  authentic  utterance  to  the  public 
sentiment.  Therefore, 

“  Re salved,  That  to  the  prudence,  sagacity,  comprehension  and  perseverance  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  under  the  guidance  of  a  benign  Providence,  the  nation  is  more  indebted 
for  the  grand  results  of  the  war,  which  Southern  rebels  have  wickedly  waged  against 
Liberty  and  the  Union,  than  to  any  other  single  instrumentality,  and  that  he  is  justly 
entitled  to  whatever  reward  it  is  iD  the  power  of  the  nation  to  bestow. 

“  Resoloed,  That  we  cordially  approve  of  the  policy  which  Mr.  Lincoln  has  adopted 
and  pursued,  as  well  the  principles  he  has  announced  as  the  acts  he  has  performed  : 
and  that  we  shall  continue  to  give  an  earnest  and  energetic  support  to  the  doctrines 
and  measures  by  which  his  administration  has  thus  far  been  directed  and  illustrated. 

“  Resolved ,  That  as  Mr.  Lincoln  has  had  to  endure  the  largest  share  of  the  labor 
required  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  now  rapidly  verging  to  its  close,  he  should  also 
enjoy  the  largest  share  of  the  honors  which  await  those  who  have  contended  for  the 
right ;  and  as,  in  all  respects,  he  has  shown  pre-eminent  ability  in  fulfilling  the  require¬ 
ments  of  his  great  office,  we  recognize  with  pleasure  the  unmistakable  indications  of 
the  popular  will  in  all  the  loyal  States,  and  heartily  join  with  our  fellow-citizens, 
without  any  distinction  of  partyf  here  and  elsewhere,  in  presenting  him  as  the  People’s 
candidate  for  the  Presidency  at  the  approaching  election. 

“  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seventy-six  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  promote  the  object  now  proposed,  by  correspondence  with  other  loyal  organizations, 
by  stimulating  the  expression  of  public  opinion,  and  by  whatever  additional  modes 
shall,  in  their  judgment,  seem  be5t  adapted  to  the  end  ;  and  that  this  committee  have 
power  to  supply  vacancies  in  their  own  body,  and  to  increase  their  numbers  at  their 
own  discretion. 

“  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  proceedings,  properly  engrossed  and  attested,  be 
forwarded  to  President  Lincoln  j  and  that  they  also  be  published  in  the  loyal  news¬ 
papers.”  * 

GEORGE  H.  BOKER, 

Secretary. 


J 


f 


Much  criticism  of  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln’s  administration 
has  been  based  upon  a  strangely  erroneous  notion  of  the  genius 
of  our  institutions.  It  has  been  generally  assumed  that  the  acts 
of  the  President  have  been  the  exponents  of  his  own  individual 
convictions.  Democrats  have  censured  him  for  converting  the 
“war  against  disunion”  into  a  “war  against  slavery.”  Radi¬ 
cal  Republicans  have  been  equally  prone  to  condemn  him  as  a 
half-hearted  Abolitionist,  who  required  perpetual  stimulation  to 
perform  his  duty,  and  who  is  not  to  be  trusted  because  he  did 
not,  immediately  on  his  inauguration,  carry  out  the  views  which 
he  had  previously  expressed  of  opposition  to  slavery. 

Both  parties  seem  to  have  equally  forgotten  that  our  form  of 
government  is  as  purely  democratic  as  can  be  reduced  to  a 
practical  system.  Our  whole  political  machinery  is  devised  for 
the  purpose  of  allowing  the  people  to  regulate  the  national 
policy.  The  will  of  the  people  is  supreme.  Congress  and  the 
Executive  derive  their  power  solely  as  embodiments  of  this 
popular  will.  They  are  placed  in  power  for  the  exclusive  pur¬ 
pose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  wishes  of  the  nation,  and  beyond 
this  narrow  circle  of  duty,  the  utmost  they  can  do  is  to  mould 
public  opinion,  -to  which  they  have  no  right  to  run  counter. 

It  is  not  in  question  whether  this  may  in  all  cases  be  desirable, 
or  whether  this  form  of  government  is  perfect.  The  fact  is 
absolute  that  the  people  governs  itself,  and  that  it  has  a  right 
to  demand  that  its  affairs  be  conducted  according  to  its  convic¬ 
tions.  Many  of  our  rulers  have  lost  sight  of  this  fact,  and  when 
once  placed  in  office  have  sought  to  make  the  popular  will  bend 


€\ e  Will  flf  t|e  1 


4 


4 


to  their  own  prejudices,  or  to  their  peculiar  views  of  policy.  It  is 
Mr.  Lincoln’s  pre-eminent  characteristic  that  he  has  never  lost 
sight  of  the  great  organic  law  of  our  political  being. 

For  twenty  years  prior  to  his  election  he  had,  on  all  fitting 
occasions,  expressed  his  disapprobation  of  slavery,  and  his  desire 
that  it  could  be  constitutionally  done  away  with.  Yet  in  the 
popular  vote  which  made,  him  President  he  saw  the  expression 
simply  of  a  determination  to  resist  the  aggressions  of  slavery, 
and  not  the  condemnation  of  the  system  itself.  His  views  as  a 
private  man  were,  therefore,  to  be  subordinated  to  those  of  the 
country,  and  from  the  hour  of  his  election  he  was  careful  not  to 
express  an  hostility  to  slavery,  which,  in  his  position,  would  have 
expressed  the  policy  of  the  incoming  administration. 

But  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  the  public  recognized, 
at  first,  that  the  rebellion  was  founded  in  slavery.  Fewer  still 
but  believed  that  slavery  was  an  element  of  weakness  in  the 
South.  There  was  a  general  conviction  that  the  system  was 
incompatible  wuth  civil  strife,  and  that  it  would  soon  be  swept 
ojit  of  existence  in  the  whirlwind  of  war.  Coupled  with  these 
was  a  very  general  desire  to  avoid  the  responsibility  of  its 
destruction,  and  of  the  terrible  upheaval  which  that  destruction 
was  expected  to  cause.  Mr.  Lincoln  may  or  may  not  have  been 
more  far-sighted  than  the  mass  of  his  fellow-citizens.  If  he 
were,  he  contented  himself  with  recognizing  and  obeying  the 
popular  voice. 

The  earlier  acts  of  his  administration,  therefore,  manifest  no 
desire  to  interfere  wTith  the  internal  structure  of  Southern  society. 
Not  only  did  he  scrupulously  abstain  from  arousing  hopes  of  free¬ 
dom  in  the  minds  of  the  slaves,  but  he  publicly  declared  that 
nothing  should  be  done  to  alter  the  condition  of  a  single  inhabi- 
t  int  of  the  States  in  revolt.  Those  States  were  invited  to 
return  with  all  their  original  rights  and  privileges,  and  the 
efforts  of  the  North  were  restricted  rigorously  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  military  oligarchy  which  resisted  the  laws. 

The  dream  of  a  thirty  or  ninety  days  war  passed  away.  With 
the  prolongation  of  the  war,  the  South  developed  powers  of 
defence  and  aggression  which  few  among  us  had  foreseen,  and 


5 


the  vicissitudes  of  the  conflict  gradually  opened  our  eyes  to  facts 
which  had  not  been  generally  understood.  The  conviction  insen¬ 
sibly  spread  that  the  strength  of  the  rebellion  lay  in  slavery, 
and  that  we  could  no  longer  allow  our  military  policy  to  be 
controlled  by  the  constitutional  scruples  which  were  wholly  out 
of  place  in  so  desperate  and  doubtful  a  conflict.  We  recognized 
at  last  that  the  rights,  which  had  been  so  reverently  respected 
among  peaceful  members  of  the  republic,  could  no  longer  be 
claimed  by  those  who  had  defiantly  endeavored  to  destroy  the 
Constitution,  and  that  it  was  useless  longer  to  solicit  the  return 
of  men  who  boasted  that  no  proffered  terms  could  induce  them 
to  assent  to  reunion. 

Many  men  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  position  would  have  disregarded 
this  change  in  public  sentiment.  A  revolution  of  policy  on  so 
vital  a  question  looks  too  much  like  an  acknowledgment  of  error 
to  be  agreeable  to  those  whose  false  pride  shrinks  from  the 
reproach  of  inconsistency.  Short-sighted  men  saw  in  it  the 
danger  of  losing  friends,  and  of  giving  new  weapons  to  enemies. 
Fortunately  for  us,  we  had  a  ruler  who  could  rise  superior  to 
personal  motives  and  to  petty  vanity, — one  who  could  read 
almost  intuitively  the  popular  heart,  and  who  recognized  him¬ 
self  to  be  the  servant  of  the  people.  As  the  nation  changed  its 
views,  so  he  was  ready  to  change  his  policy.  When,  therefore, 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation  made  its  appearance,  the  people 
was  prepared  to  welcome  that  which,  a  year  earlier,  would  have 
aroused  a  tempest  of  disapprobation.  It  is  true,  the  pro-slavery 
element  among  us  still  was  formidable,  and  this  deadly  blow  at 
the  cherished  institution  aroused  its  fiercest  wrath ;  but  the  im¬ 
potence  of  that  wrath  showed  how  truly’  the  President  had 
measured  the  progress  of  opinion,  and  how  fully  the  nation  was 
ready  to  sustain  his  position. 

The  next  step  wras  the  arming  of  negro  troops.  In  July,  1862, 
Congress  authorized  the  employment  of  “  persons  of  African 
descent”  in  our  armies.  The  public  mind  was  not  yet  prepared 
to  accept  the  assistance  of  the  despised  race.  The  possible 
consequences  of  arming  slaves  shocked  many;  the  secondary 
results  of  elevating  the  negro  to  a  soldier,  and  allowing  him  to 


6 


fight  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  us,  alarmed  still  more.  The  ad¬ 
ministration  accordingly  did  not  press  the  matter.  It  would  do 
nothing  without  the  cordial  assent  of  the  people.  Prejudices 
fast  wore  awray,  and  at  length  the  time  approached  when  an 
experimental  trial  could  properly  be  made.  One  or  two  regi¬ 
ments  of  freedmen  were  organized,  and  it  was  found  that  the 
fears  of  indiscriminate  revenge  and  rapine  were  groundless. 
The  characteristic  obedience  to  discipline  showed  that,  for  gar¬ 
rison  duty  and  occupation,  the  colored  troops  could  safely  be 
relied  on;  and  the  increasing  difficulty  of  procuring  volunteers 
in  the  North  produced  a  general  conviction,  that  in  the  African 
brigades  we  had  found  the  solution  of  several  problems  which 
had  sorely  exercised  us.  The  President  hastened  to  obey  the 
general  call  for  an  increase  of  this  portion  of  our  forces,  and 
colored  regiments  were  organized  throughout  rebellious  terri¬ 
tory  with  all  possible  energy.  The  attack  on  Port  Hudson 
showed  that  the  fighting  qualities  of  these  troops  "were  as  dis¬ 
tinguished  as  their  other  soldierly  attributes,  and  a  demand 
arose  in  the  North  that  the  free  colored  population  should  be 
turned  to  account. 

Those  w'ho  have  witnessed  the  marvellous  revolution  in  public 
opinion  on  this  subject  cannot  but  admire  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Lincoln’s  honest  deference  to  public  opinion  has  produced  re¬ 
sults  'which  the  tact  of  the  cunning  statesman  might  have  failed  to 
secure.  Taking  each  step  as  the  voice  of  the  people  demanded 
it,  he  has  never  been  forced  to  retrace  his  position.  Supported 
by  and  supporting  the  popular  feeling,  he  has  moved  onward  in 
unison  with  it,  and  each  new  development  has  afforded  sure  foot¬ 
hold  for  further  progress.  A  year  ago,  in  Philadelphia,  a  negro 
in  uniform  could  not  have  -walked  the  street  without  insult  or 
outrage.  In  a  few  short  months,  crowds  assembled  to  cheer  the 
departure  of  a  colored  regiment  embarking  to  fight  their  battle 
and  ours.  Last  July,  the  citizens  of  New  York  could  not  obtain 
the  assent  of  their  Governor  to  form  such  an  organization,  and 
the  brutal  fury  of  mobs  threatened  to  exterminate  the  race.. 
Now  Broadway  throngs  to  give  an  ovation  to  the.  dusky  warriors 
pressing  to  the  front. 


7 


In  times  like  these,  the  world  moves  fast.  In  the  great  cru- 
eible  of  civil  war,  old-time  prejudices  and  worn-out  convictions 
are  melted  and  dissipated  like  dross.  Men  who,  three  years 
ago,  would  have  perilled  their  lives  to  preserve  from  reform  the 
institutions  of  the  South,  now  acknowledge  in  those  institutions 
the  deep-rooted  cause  of  our  troubles,  and  have  resolved  that 
the  downfall  of  the  rebellion  shall  carry  with  it  all  that  gave 
the  rebellion  vitality.  The  people  no  longer  desire  a  patched-up 
peace,  lasting  only  till  the  defeated  combatant  shall  recover  his 
vigor  for  another  deadly  assault  on  the  life  of  the  nation. 
There  is  no  vindictiveness  in  this.  We  ask  not  for  punish¬ 
ment;  but  we  demand  that  the  sacrifice  of  our  blood  and  treasure 
shall  not  be  in  vain.  We  desire  our  children  to  be  spared  that 
which  we  have  suffered.'  We  are  ready  to  restore  our  erring 
brethren  of  the  South  to  all  the  political  rights  which  we  our¬ 
selves  enjoy;  but  we  have  the  right  to  require  that  they  shall 
divest  themselves  of  the  curse  which  has  risen  like  a  wall  of 
separation  between  us.  This  is  at  last  the  profound  conviction 
of  the  nation,  and  well  has  it  been  answered  by  the  President. 
His  Proclamation  of  Amnesty  puts  into  practical  shape  the 
wishes  which  have  long  been  silently  forming  themselves  in 
every  loyal  heart.  Again  has  he  divined  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  at  the  fitting  time  his  acts  have  responded,  making,  as  far 
as  his  competence  extends,  that  will  the  law  of  the  land. 

To  this  intuitive  perception  of  public  opinion,  and  this  skill 
in  translating  it  into  action,  Mr.  Lincoln  owes  much  of  the  suc¬ 
cess  of  his  administration.  He  is  at  once  the  leader  and  the 
led,  and  the  people  regard  him  with  an  affectionate  confidence, 
for  they  see  that  he  has  never  betrayed  them,  and  they  feel  that 
their  destinies  are  in  their  own  keeping,  as  befits  an  intelligent 
and  high-souled  race  at  the  turning-point  of  its  destiny.  The 
war  has  taught  us  many  things:  we  are  quick  to  learn,  and  we 
desire  that  those  to  whom  the  conduct  of  our  affairs  is  intrusted 
should  fully  keep  pace  with  us  in  this  costly  education.  It  has 
been  not  the  least  of  Mr.  Lincoln’s  merits,  that  he  has  been 
content  to  learn  with  us.  His  errors  have  been  our  errors,  and 
though  in  looking  back  we  may  fancy  that  many  things  might 


8 


* 


have  been  done  sooner,  a  closer  retrospection  will  prove  that  we 
ourselves  were  not  prepared  for  earlier  progress,  and  that  a  dis¬ 
regard  for  our  prejudices  might  at  times  have  proved  fatal  to 
the  cause. 

Yet,  in  thus  obeying  the  spirit  of  our  democratic  institutions, 
Mr.  Lincoln  has  displayed  none  of  the  arts  of  the  demagogue. 
The  transitory  passions  of  the  multitude  are  very  different  from 
the  slowly  formed  convictions  of  the  people.  The  President  has 
known  to  distinguish  between  them,  and  he  has  at  times  shown 
as  lofty  a  firmness  to  resist  the  former  as  he  has  ever  manifested 
alacrity  to  respect  the  latter.  That  he  has  never  hesitated  thus 
to  risk  popularity,  that  he  has  always  been  content  to  abide  the 
sober  second  thought  of  his  fellow-citizens,  proves  that  his  course 
has  been  guided  neither  by  the  want  of  self-reliance  nor  by  the 
promptings  of  personal  ambition.  The  vital  principle  of  his 
whole  administration  has  been  his  recognition  of  the  fact,  that 
our  Government  is  simply  a  machine  for  carrying  into  effect 
The  Will  of  the  People. 


« 

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